Written in the aftermath of the defeat of the
Howard government, in which Abbott had served as a senior Cabinet Minister, the book is partly an autobiography, partly an insider critique and examination of the record of the Howard government and partly a manifesto on future directions for the Liberal Party, which had entered opposition after 11 years in office. It was published during the tenure of
Malcolm Turnbull as leader of the opposition. In the book, Abbott said that in certain aspects, the
Australian Federation was "dysfunctional" and in need of repair. He recommended the establishment of local hospital and school boards to manage health and education; and discussed family law reform; multiculturalism, the
monarchy in Australia, climate change; and international relations. The book received a favourable review from former Labor Party speech writer
Bob Ellis, and
The Australian newspaper described it as "read almost universally as Abbott's intellectual application for the party's leadership after the Turnbull experiment". In a review of the book, professor of politics
Robert Manne pointed out numerous self-contradictions, and summarized it as a "hallelujah chorus in praise of his former leader"
John Howard and a "hodgepodge of half-baked thoughts and determinedly unresolved contradictions". ==References==